Groups in line for gongs

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Victorian-based arts organisations, including the Australian
Ballet, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria,
have been named finalists in the 2005 Australian Business Arts
Foundation Awards.

Founded in 2000, AbaF evolved from the former Australia
Foundation for Culture and the Humanities, and aims to increase
private-sector funding for the arts. The annual awards honour the
best relationships between private enterprise and the arts. NSW
tops the list of nominees with nine finalists, ahead of Western
Australia and Victoria, both on six. The Melbourne Symphony
features in two nominations; one for its partnership with Emirates
(along with the Sydney and WA Symphony Orchestras), and one with
the Hay Group, which has joined with the MSO to create the Encore
Leadership program.

Other Victorians to make the final list, selected from about 100
nominations from around Australia, are Regional Arts Victoria, for
its partnership with Horsham City Council in hosting the biennial
conference of Regional Arts Australia, and the Humour Foundation's
Clown Doctors, for a partnership with Cadbury Schweppes that
enabled the foundation to increase its performers and reach more
children in hospitals. The awards will be presented in Sydney on
July 28.